On Spontaneity
The Dreaded "Inner Editor"
There's a quiet monster lurking inside every single one of us that criticizes our writing, tells our brain that our ideas are stupid before we even begin to write, and makes us fearful to take risks. Known as our "Inner Editor," it is the monster that shoots down our writing before it even gets written, setting the standard of quality at a respectable height but banishing anything that doesn't make the cut. Our "Inner Editor" is responsible for writer's block, blank-page syndrome, flashing-cursor disorder, and a number of other nasty things that prevent you from writing. We all have one- they constantly try to edit things before they get written, which results very often in getting nothing done.
Defeating our "Inner Editor"
Luckily, there is still hope. How do we fight our "Inner Editor?" By fighting fire with fire, of course. When your "Inner Editor" tells you that an idea is stupid, you respond by telling yourself that every idea is worth writing down. When your "Inner Editor" flags an idea as too low for the quality standard, you respond by setting your quality standard so low that there is no such thing as too low. The key to fighting your "Inner Editor" is to ignore them completely.
Long story short, our "Inner Editor" inhibits creativity. They make us afraid to write anything that isn't absolutely perfect. Many people assume that if they ignore their "Inner Editor," the quality of their writing will decrease to meet the lower standards. In fact, the exact opposite is true. By ignoring any sort of inhibition, our creativity reaches its full potential. It's like making conversation with your friends versus making conversation with an esteemed professor at your school. With your friends, your mind is completely open and relaxed and you can talk about anything in the world while sounding like the coolest person ever. In the presence of your professor, you get nervous, your mind starts to freeze, and you stumble over the most basic ideas.
Defeat your inner editor. You will begin to write more freely, and while there will be some very (bad) writing at the beginning, there will also be so much more improved writing. You will find some real diamonds in the rough, more than you would expect from such low standards. Remember, creativity is on your side. Unleash your full potential by saying goodbye to your "Inner Editor" while you write.